From the Heat (Arizona) to the Humid (Wisconsin)

Stephen and I had a great time in Arizona. On Wednesday, June 23 we were happy to be able to join Tracy Yohe on the radio. She invited us to join her on her morning show on Alive FM. It was really fun to be there. We talked about what the situation in Ireland is like and our plans to go there. We didn't get any call-ins, but hopefully someone was out there listening and either prayed for us, or was encouraged to be more missions minded in their own lives where they live.Here we are on the radio!

On Valentine's day this year I had made Boeuf Bourguignon which is a beef stew cooked in red wine with onions and mushrooms. Stephen loved it and wanted his family to try it as well. So, on Thursday Stephen and I made it together. It was really good and it was fun to cook with Stephen. Stephen's parent's dog, Sadie, really loved to eat all of the fat we cut off the meat. She was hanging around the kitchen just waiting for more after it was all gone. Julia Child would be proud of us!

Stephen preached on Sunday morning. I thought he did a really good job. He talked about how we should't just talk about what we are going to do for Christ, we should start doing it. How many times do we have great ideas about things and just never follow through?Stephen throwing it down

That night, Stephen presented about Ireland and our mission there. We realized that we had a lot to say about it. It went pretty long. But everyone there didn't have many questions at the end, so I guess we covered it all.

It was really nice to be with Stephen's family. We do not get to spend nearly enough time with family, So, when we do the time just goes by too fast. Stephen's mom made me a really good cheese-less pizza. It was better than what I thought a cheese-less pizza could ever be. We miss them already. Stephen with John and Robin

To prove I really was there in Arizona with them

On Monday Stephen's parents drove us back to Phoenix. We stayed with Mike and Dezi Worstell. It was so nice to see them again and others that have come to Christ's Church of the Valley from CCCB. They planned a cookout and we ate good food and had good conversation. The next day, after a nice breakfast that Dezi cooked, Mike drove us to Christ's Church of the Valley. There we met with Dermot O'Mahoney who is from Limerick, Ireland. He was kind enough to talk to us about Ireland and what we should expect when we get there and how he thinks church planting should work over there. It was really eye-opening to be able to talk with someone who has lived and grown up there. Even though we had some of the same thoughts as Dermot did, it was nice to hear some of our ideas confirmed and to learn more as well. It will also be nice to have him as a contact once we get over to Ireland, as he is going back pretty soon as well.

After that, we flew back to Wisconsin. The first couple days that we were here it was really nice. Hardly any humidity at all. But now, it really has settled in. The first few days here we just had fun hanging out with my family. Playing tennis, watching home videos, talking, watching movies, Stephen playing video games with my brothers, it was just really nice to be able to hang out. On Saturday Stephen and I spent most of the day in Janesville trying to figure out how to make our booth look better. We got the idea to print out one of our pictures from Ireland at Sam's to draw more attention to our booth. It turned out pretty nice and it was really cheap too. Most of the banners that we were looking at online cost about $50+ but we just printed out a 16X20 picture (big enough to draw attention, but small enough to fit in our luggage) for only $15! I love finding ways to save! haha

This Sunday we gave a 5 minute presentation at both services at Roxbury Road Church of Christ. I was so nervous to speak, but I got through it. I really do need more practice speaking in front of people. I shouldn't just lean on my class orator husband to do all of the talking. haha Anyway, it was so nice to see the people from my home church again! It was also nice to see people get excited about what we are doing and wanting it to be their mission as well. Tomorrow we have the opportunity to speak with the missions board at the church. I hope that it goes well.

Last night we went to see the fireworks in Milton. Usually they are really nice, with a exciting start, a time in the middle where they are only shooting off 2 or 3 at a time so that you can have time to enjoy each one and pick out the ones you like best, and then the grand finale where it goes crazy. Well, last night it was just one big grand finale. It was nuts! In the paper they said that the fireworks would last more than 20 minutes. I would be surprised if it lasted more than 10. It was crazy! It was like they were thinking that it was going to rain or something and that they needed to get it over with. Also, the bad thing about it was that we were downwind, so all of the ash and smoke were flying right towards us. We all had to wear our hoods because ash was getting in our eyes! haha There were also times that you couldn't even see the fireworks hardly because of all of the smoke! I think it was the worst fireworks that I have ever been to, but yet at the same time I really enjoyed it because it was so crazy!

Well, that is all we have for now. We will try to be better at posting more frequently, so you don't have to read such a huge chunk at once. Thanks for reading!